Catching Bones
by Frosti1212
Summary: (AU) Even though Lloyd and Sapphire won the games, danger lurks around every corner of the All-Element ward. There are whispers of rebellion, and when unexpected news befalls them, they realize the odds may never be in their favor. READ THE SKULL GAMES FIRST! The long awaited sequel to The Skull Games!
1. Dark Dreams

A.N: WOO HOO! THE LONG AWAITED SEQUEL TO THE SKULL GAMES IS HERE! Ahhh! I'm so pumped for this! Finally I have the chance to start it, so, without further ado, CATCHING BONES CHAPTER 1! I've been meaning to name my chapters, so here is my first named chapter!

**_Note: _**Some of the inspiration for Lloyd's pill experience comes from one of ForeverDreamer12's fanfics. I read it again for some help to what I would write. I've never really had very bad memories with that kind of stuff, besides horrible tasting cold medicine. (the thought of it makes me want to gag :P) If I offended you Ever and if you feel as if I stole some parts, please let me know and I'll change it. Thanks.

_*Chapter 1:__ Dark Dreams*_

**Lloyd's POV:**

"Do I have to?!" I whined. Ugh. The dreaded pills. The tiny terrors. The miniscule minors. Dad gave me a look of pity, and annoyance. "Sorry son, doctor's orders." Groaning, I reluctantly grabbed the two little red spheres and stomped to the bathroom.

Ever since Sapphire and I won, I've been having trouble getting used to such a big house. After the celebration in the square, mom, dad and I packed our stuff and moved into Champion's Court. The house is so big, even now, almost 5 months after the games, I still get lost. On the bright side, I live right in-between James and Sapphire.

When I reached the bathroom, I sighed. I glanced at the painkillers in my hand and glared at them. I walked to the sink and poured some water in a cup. Knowing what was coming; I gulped and popped the pills on my mouth. The soft and sweet outer covering dissolved off the pills rather quick, and I was left with the most repulsive taste ever created by mankind. Puffing my cheeks, I wanted to scream it tasted so bad. I struggled to swallow the pills, and when I did, I gagged and coughed up some red liquid inside the sink. I wasn't able to withstand the taste much longer, and I eventually staggered to the toilet to throw up.

When I was done retching, I stumbled back to the living room and sat on the couch. Dad was sitting opposite of me, reading a book. Seeing I was back, he gave me a look of sympathy. Bored, I ran my hand over my scar on my torso. It still hurt sometimes, but that was what the pills were for. Now it just felt kinda numb. I shuddered when I remembered how I got that scar. Well, scars since I had another at my throat. The memories they brought back caused me to get goose bumps. Shaking my head, I refused to dwell on the past.

I glanced out the window to see a flurry of white swirling outside. Snow! "Dad, can I go outside in the snow?" He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. At first I was confused, but then I yawned uncontrollably. Shoot. A side effect of the painkillers is drowsiness. I hated this, and it happened twice a day. All my energy seemed to flow away, like a wave. _No! Not again! Please, ugh. Stupid, stupid stupid STUPID pills. _As the side effect began to take over, I dimly remembered when Tyson first ambushed me in the arena, how Sapphire told me to rest. How I was in so much pain and agony I didn't even object. My body relaxed and slumped over. Dad walked over to me and gently forced me to lie down on the couch. I wanted to protest this, but the couch was so comfortable. I lost the ability to focus on anything, everything grew dim and blurry as I felt my eyelids grow heavy, and Dad smiled and whispered "Sweet dreams." I let out an "hmmm" as the sleepiness overwhelmed me, and I couldn't fight it any longer.

**Lloyd's dream**

_I could feel my heart stop when I heard Tyson discover my presence. Instantly I drew an arrow and faced him. However, I knew what would happen. The ambush. Officially the scariest moment of my life. But, since this was a dream, anything could happen. _

_I was sliced at the torso, and I fell to my knees. In this dream, Tyson was bigger and more menacing than I could ever imagine. The dagger was held to my throat. I panted, struggling to break free. The world began to spin and blur, and when I heard the shout from Sapphire I knew she would save me._

_Boy was I wrong. Jayde blocked her from me, and the dagger dug as deep as it could possibly go in my throat. Tyson let go, and the group left with my supplies, satisfied. Sapphire ran to me, but it was too late. I was too far gone. My wounds were too deep, too severe. The grass was stained red with my own blood. She pulled me into her arms and sobbed in my shoulder. "I'm sorry Lloyd, I could've saved you, it's all my fault, I'm sorry." She moved me so we faced each other. The world began to dim and turn into a spiraling kaleidoscope. I wish that she…who was she again? Who am I? What's happening? My last words I could utter were, "Good luck, tell my family and friends I love them." My pulse slowed, and I died._

_For some weird reason, even after that my dream continued. Sapphire continued crying next to my lifeless form. She eventually stood up and did something unexpected. She did three fingers over her heart, and then held the three fingers to the nearest camera. It was a sign used in all the wards, meaning I'm sorry, good luck, admiration, and in this case, I'm sorry for your loss. Then she walked from me without looking back. _

_My dream skipped her reuniting with Kai and moved to the mutts. Unfortunately, more scary mutts at that. The two of them arrived at the target, but once again fate was twisted painfully. The mutts targeted Kai, and he was killed during the mauling. Sapphire and Tyson took each other on, and she was determined to avenge my death. But, Tyson's size won out, and he won._

**End of Lloyd's dream**

I woke up panting, sweating and trembling. Dad looked concerned and was at my side. "You alright son? You were tossing and turning in your sleep." I nodded, not wanting to worry my father. He looked skeptical. "Alright. It's still snowing; you can go out if you want." I grinned and quickly put on my boots and coat, and dashed outside.

**Sapphire's POV:**

The lake was so still, and quiet. Everything in the woods was quiet. I sat perched on a small rock, my breath snaking out in front of my face in the chilled winter air. I scanned the area for prey, but my mind was elsewhere. On the games, Lloyd, my latest dreams, Kai. Especially Kai.

Rustling broke through my thoughts. I quickly readied an arrow to fire at a deer, but a laugh caused my prey to saunter out of my grasp. I know that laugh better than anyone else. I spun my head, my braid whipping behind me, to see warm amber eyes and the aroma of smoke and pine. "Kai! That deer was as good as mine!" He smiled that sweet smile of his, and sat down next to me. "Sorry Sapphire, but I'm sure you can catch something else." This made me smile.

Kai wrapped his arm around me, and I gladly accepted the warmth. Kai and his sister Nya now live with us in the All-Element ward, after much arguing. Lloyd was happy about this, but I had conflicting emotions. About our status. Are we an item? Do I like him? Am I supposed to? "You alright?" I must've tensed up; Kai says I do that when I'm in deep thought. "Just thinking" I whispered.

"The Victory Tour's coming up" Kai said without much enthusiasm. "Joy" I mumbled. The victors were to visit all the wards and attend parties and speeches, pretty much to rub in the other ward's faces that we won. It disgusts me. "At least we'll see our prep teams and stylists again." I smiled at the thought of seeing Daniel.

"Hey guys" a cheerful voice called. I turned to see Lloyd with his arrows, looking tired but his usual happy self. "Hey sweetie" I greeted. When we came back from the stadium, Lloyd's became a little more reserved and quiet. Since he's been sleeping more, he comes to me to let out his tears of his prominent nightmares. I felt bad for him, being only 13 and having all this sadness and fear thrust upon him.

The white blonde boy cocked an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" Kai and I faced each other, unsure of what to say. "Nothing much kiddo. Just bored." Lloyd got a mischievous grin on his face. He reached into the snow, and chucked a snowball at my fiery friend. While I laughed at the boy's snowball war, the same dark thoughts plagued my mind. I tried to maintain a joyous manner, but that was easier said than done. One thought stood out to me.

_Lloyd, because of my carelessness, the Chief's after you. And it's my entire fault._

A.N: AHH CRAPPY CHAPTER AHH! *kicks brain for incredibly lame chapter one* Grrr! Please review and I'll try and make chapter 2 interesting!


	2. Tea and Cookies

A.N: Hey everybody! Moving right along to chapter 2 of Catching Bones. I probably won't be able to update any of my stories for a while, since school has been a pain in the butt. SO MUCH HOMEWORK. Ugh. 7th grade is hard! But enough of my problems, on with the story!

*_Chapter 2: __Tea and Cookies*_

**Sapphire's POV:**

The mood between the three of us seemed to grow rather dark, as well as the sky. The temperature dropped significantly as we trudged through the snow covered ground. My mind raced with questions and concerns, and Lloyd was rather quiet. I was worried about the kid. Lloyd must have something on his mind; I'll talk to him later. The blonde boy was shivering and I pulled him close to me, brushing the snow off his coat.

Kai was carrying our game bag, filled with some rabbits and squirrels. I was still peeved about not getting that deer, but since its Kai, I'll let it slide. Just this once. My fiery friend's hair was soaking wet from the snow, causing his spikes to flatten. I suppressed a smirk, since only I have seen him without his spikey hair. That was when we were kids, and I saw him go on a rampage for running out of gel. Believe me when I say it was quite a sight.

The faint light up ahead signaled we were almost home. The thought of a roaring fire and the comfort of my home caused me to smile a little, despite my worries. However, I decided to accompany Lloyd to his home, and say hello to the Garmadons. When we stepped in, Lloyd's mother had a frightened expression on her face. "Sapphire, you have a visitor who wishes to speak with you." I raised an eyebrow, wondering who would want to talk to me, of all people.

I was even more confused when some soldiers from the Chief were waiting to lead me to the person. I glanced at the Garmadons. Misako was still frightened, Lloyd's father looked void of any emotion, but held a fearful look in his blue-grey eyes. Lastly, little Lloyd was hiding behind his father, peering out from behind him with fear written on his young face. Garmadon had a protective arm around his son.

Following the skeletal soldiers, my heart was pounding so hard, I'm surprised the soldiers didn't notice. My palms grew sweaty and began to tremble. Who wants to see me? Why me? What did I do…this time? Ideas raced through my brain, some extravagant, some realistic as to who was wishing to see me.

I arrived at the door of what appeared to be a study. The soldiers politely opened the door for me, and who I saw in their made me stop in my tracks. King Samukai.

"Ah, Sapphire, so glad you could join me for some tea and cookies." I sat down across from him, and grabbed a sugar cookie. The king hasn't changed a bit. Still has the dark and soulless black eyes, four skeletal arms, his chest armor with Ninjago's emblem, the golden dragon. His armor was black, with the dragon right smack in the center. Its eyes seemed to stare right into me, smelling my fear.

"Let's get right to the point my dear. I know about that stunt your beau and yourself pulled. I'm not happy about it. Can you guess why?" I gulped, scared straight out of my 17 year old mind. "Because it was against the Chief?" Samukai's attention turned back to his green tea. "Well, yes. But also because of something else. Tell me, do you know why we have the Skull Games?"

I could think of a lot of reasons why they had the games as a matter of fact. All of them were thoroughly inappropriate to say in front of this audience. "Because it keeps the wards in balance. Your little berry stunt caused more than you know Sapphire. Much more. Not a lot, but some wards, are beginning to rebel. Rebel leads to a full on rebellion. Rebellion leads to war. War leads to death, poverty, and anger. Get the picture?" I nodded, beginning to see his point.

"Sapphire, there's an old saying from the ancient times. Every revolution begins with a spark. You and Kai, possibly even Lloyd, _are _that spark. We don't want that spark to turn into a flame. A rebellion can and will lead to the entire country crashing down. Now, I'm not going to be responsible for that. I know you don't want to be responsible, but who else would?"

I suddenly didn't feel so hungry anymore. King Samukai's aroma of blood was too strong for me. On top of that, all of my worries are coming true, right in front of my eyes. "You worked very hard in the games, Miss Jennings. But they were games. Would you like to be in a real war? Imagine thousands of your people dead. Your loved ones…gone." My breathing became faster and faster. However, I maintained a calm attitude on the outside. This was a direct threat to the only people left in my life that I care about. I'm gonna prove that I'm stronger than him. "What do I need to do?"

Samukai gave me a sinister grin. "I need a distraction. Many watching the games loved your love for Kai. But others didn't believe this. Convince those others. If not, well, then maybe your young little blonde friend and Kai might no longer be here."

I gasped. Lloyd and Kai. Dead? Would he really go_ that_ far? Standing up straight, I looked at the king right in the eye. "Fine, I'll convince the people in the wards that I love Kai, and he loves me." Samukai leered at me. "I'm afraid that's not good enough my dear."

I sighed. "What more do you want?" He stood up. "Convince _me._" Without another word, Samukai had the soldiers escort him out of the house.

I sat there, stunned. I have to convince the wards that I love Kai, or he and Lloyd will be killed. Left on the table was a cookie, but something was odd about it. Some of the frosting was scraped off, to show the symbol from the ancient language for death. Some sort of message to me. A warning. A sign. Saying that this will be the consequence for messing up. I have to tell someone. Not Kai, no he wouldn't keep a secret, assuming he doesn't flip out. Lloyd will be too upset, and I don't want to upset him even more. The Garmadons are out, as well as Juliana. That left one person.

Arriving in the living room, the three Garmadons and Kai looked up at me. "Well, what did he want?" asked Kai. I contemplated what to say to them, I'm not a good liar. "Oh, Samukai always comes to greet the victors before the tour. He figured that I would pass on the message to you guys. He just said good luck."

Kai looked skeptical, and Lloyd looked at the floor, refusing to meet my eyes. His father still was holding him close, as if the tighter he hugged him, the safer he was. Sure, it wasn't believable, but no one's asking further questions, which was good enough for me.

I stayed at Lloyd's house after Kai left. I taught Lloyd how to play crazy eights with an old deck of cards. He beat me. Twice. He was still rather quiet. Is he scared? Worried? Angry? I learned that it's best not to press Lloyd with questions, and ask either gently or wait until he brings it up himself. We've been through enough together to know each other well.

During our third game, Lloyd whispered to me, "Sapphire, is it me, or is something bad gonna happen?" I looked at him, confused. "Why do you suppose that?" Lloyd avoided my gaze. "I just feel like, since things got so much better for us after the games, it might be too good to be true." My face softened and I got to his level, kneeling down on the cold hardwood floor. "Sweetie, I can't tell you if that is true or not, but I can tell you this. If anything happens, if anything happens that could hurt you, or your family, I'll be there." The small blonde finally met my eyes. "But what if you're not?" "That won't happen. I'll _always _there. No matter what." He smiled. "Promise?" "Promise."

And that was a promise I intended to keep.

A.N: BOOM. Chapter 2! Hope you liked it, and PLEASE REVIEW!


	3. Knives and Nonsense

A.N: Happy Holidays my friends! This is my gift to you! Yay! Sapphire's a little sassy in this chapter, FYI. Oh, and if you read my other story Silence is Golden, please do the poll about it on my profile! Thank you! And please read on and review!

*_Chapter 3: __Knives and Nonsense*_

**Sapphire's POV:**

As soon as Lloyd went to bed, I rushed outside and sprinted to James' house. The sunset was a beautiful sight, with colorful oranges and reds, with hints of pink and yellow. I stopped running for a moment and looked at it. It was the perfect backdrop for the snow silently falling from the sky above. I shook my head. I don't have time for this! Lives are at stake! Yep…this is my life now.

I barged inside James' home, manners being the last thing on my mind. The second I took a breath, I gagged. The stench was absolutely revolting. It reeked of alcohol and tobacco. "James!" I shouted, annoyed. "James we need to talk! Get your lazy butt out here now!"

Seconds later, a half-awake James stumbled into the entryway. "Any particular reason why you woke me up?" he slurred. Crap, I thought. He's drunk. The last thing I need.

A flash of light caught my eye. I looked down, and saw that my mentor was carrying a knife. I put a hand on my hip and cocked an eyebrow. "Put down the knife, and then we'll talk." He eyed me for a second, and hesitantly glanced at his hand, as if just realizing he was armed. In defeat, he sighed and placed the weapon carefully on the table. "There, happy now?" I rolled my eyes. "No. But it doesn't have to do with you, thank goodness."

His expression softened, and he motioned me to have a seat, which I gladly accepted. "Now, enlighten me Sapphire. What did you do…_this _time?" I growled, but took a deep breath and regained what little composure I still possessed. "Samukai came to Lloyd's house."

The reaction was instantaneous. "What?!"

I nodded. "He and I had a rather…unfriendly conversation, if you will." James looked both frightened and enraged, a dangerous combination of emotions for someone who's drunk. "Well, what did he want?" I sighed and retold the entire conversation, even the death threats to Lloyd and Kai. And the cookie. Especially the cookie.

When I was done, silence took over. While James contemplated this, I glanced around the room. He could really use a housekeeper. Dust and dirt covered the walls and the floors, leaving a thick brown tinge. Small photographs of strangers scattered across a dresser, and empty liquor bottles were littered around the floor. If I wasn't careful where I stepped, than I could break a toe or something.

"Well then Sapphire, you know what you have to do now, don't you?" The look I gave him told him yes. "Because if you don't, then you'll figure it out."

"But, how do I do it?" I asked. "Do everything in your power to convince them. Every single moment you two have together, make it romantic. That's all I can tell you. By the way, does Kai know about this?" I reluctantly shook my head. "When the time is right, tell him."

* * *

The next morning was when the Victory Tour started. When the sun peaked through the crack in my window, I mentally punched myself. I really wasn't in the mood for a trip. I just wanted to stay here, in this bed, as far away from the Chief as possible. Why can't my life be normal?

I hastily got dressed, as I didn't want my prep team to barge in and see me half-naked. Not that they haven't seen me half-naked before. But that's beside the point.

Sure enough, my prep team and Daniel waltzed in just as I finished braiding my hair. I faced them and prepared myself for their comments on my appearance.

"Oh my, her fingernails are so filthy!" cried Josh. "Oh pish posh the nails, her skin is so dry! Where's the moisturizer?" Hannah asked. Anthony just looked at me from head to toe, with a disgusted look on his face. Daniel leaned in the doorway, amused.

Just as it was when I first met them, I was poked, prodded, yanked, shaved, and other things I would rather not mention. After the horrors of that endeavor were over, I was left alone in the room with Daniel.

"For the Victory tour, we were thinking something simpler. Elegant, simple and still noticeable." Relieved at the fact I wouldn't be wearing anything extravagant, I nodded in reply.

While Daniel did his job, Samukai's threats kept popping back in my mind. Lloyd and Kai…dead. The only two people left in this world I know I still love. Samukai shouldn't be the ruler of our nation. I am _not _just a stupid little piece in his stupid little games. He doesn't own me, or anyone for that matter. He thinks that I will just willingly go along with whatever command he makes, but he's wrong. So very wrong. He's already dead for crying out loud! He's weak. Anyone can see that.

I looked in the mirror when Daniel said he was done. I was in an elegant silver spaghetti-strapped dress that was pleated and went down to my kneecaps. I also had a black one-button jacket with black lace all across the back. A floral scarf, wool gloves, tights, and comfortable leather boots completed the look. I personally thought there were too many "girly girl" accessories, but I didn't want Daniel to feel bad.

"Lovely as always Daniel." He looked pleased, which pleased me as well.

Lloyd and Kai were dressed differently than me and each other. Good, we won't be all "matchy matchy" during the tour. Kai was in an ebony suit with a flame design on the cuffs of the sleeves. Lloyd was in a dark green kimono with a black sash and a gold dragon on the back.

After Lloyd said goodbye to his parents, Uncle and best friend and Kai said goodbye to Nya, all of us boarded the train to the Chief.

A.N: Sorry it's so short. I wanted this chapter to have some humor to it, so if you guys laughed while reading this, then YAY! Please review, and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!


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